Operation Greatest Gift

World War II ended in 1945, but it wasn’t until 2004 that a memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. to the 16 million who served in the armed forces during that war.

Health and financial obstacles have prevented most surviving veterans, now well into their 80s, from taking the long trip to honor their fallen friends and their years of service.

Operation Greatest Gift, the Grand Master’s Project for 2009-2010, will make this dream come true for hundreds of California’s World War II veterans.

Please watch the Grand Master's poignant address on this worthy project:

Grand Lodge will organize several three-day trips to Washington, D.C. designed to provide what many veterans cannot provide for themselves: an assisted visit to the memorial, at no cost to them. Because of our support, they will have an opportunity to say goodbye to fallen friends, be recognized for their service to our country, and come to terms with an important part of their lives.

The Grand Master’s Project will also raise funds to support the work of the Masonic Hospital Visitors Program Committee. This committee of dedicated Masons ensures that there is always a presence at our state’s veterans’ hospitals by providing friendship, social programs, and regular visitation.

To donate to this worthy cause please contact the Grand Lodge Office of Philanthropy at (415) 292-9117.

If you are, or if you know, a brother who is a WWII veteran and would like to be considered for the expense paid trip to Washington D.C. to view the WWII Memorial please contact the Lodge Secretary as soon as possible.

"At a time in their lives when their days and nights should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workaday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodied landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the coral islands of the Pacific. They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs. They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front. They won the war; they saved the world."

Tom Brokow